More is More

Welcome to Day #1 of sneak peeks for the Taylored Expressions September Release!  I’m super excited to be playing along with the Baker’s Dozen today as we have peeks for two full sized stamp sets – Make a Wish and Borderlicious, plus a new backgrounder – Bubbles Big Background all illustrated by Nancy McKinney for the Whimsical Wishes line.  In addition, we have a fantastic Project Pantry kit (patterned paper, cardstock, ribbon, and more) that is perfect for birthdays and celebrations.  And if all that weren’t enough there are two new sets of Taylored Dies being shown today.  And this is just Day #1!  WOW!!

We’ll have peeks today, Wednesday and Thursday.  Everything will be available for purchase on Friday morning at 8:00 am PST as we celebrate TE’s 2nd birthday with a big Birthday Bash!  You’ll want to check in every day this week so you don’t miss anything!

And now on to my sample for today which features Make a Wish.  I love the show Ace of Cakes and the Food Network Challenge for themed and extreme cakes (I can’t stand the Cake Boss, but I digress) so I was immediately drawn to this topsy-turvey cake image.  Isn’t it fun?  This is the quintessential birthday stamp set that everyone needs!  It also includes balloons and banners and plenty of birthday sentiments.

And to make this set even sweeter, it is the newest in the TE Giving Tree program which donates partial proceeds from a different stamp set each quarter to a chosen charity.  For the months of September, October and November Taylored Expressions will donate $7 from the sale of each Make a Wish stamp set to the Make a Wish Foundation. Their mission is to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.  What could be better than getting super cute new stamps and supporting a wonderful charity all at the same time?

All of the papers, cardstock and ribbon on my card are from the Make a Wish Project Pantry kit.  The cake was colored with Copic markers and then I added lots of stickles so it is super sparkly in person!  I cut my cardbase a little narrower than usual so I would have room for the border piece I punched with the Martha Stewart picket fence punch.  Then I added a boatload of Taylor’s Tiny Twinkles to the fence!  Spellbinders die is Curved Rectangle and I added some doodles with a chocolate Spica glitter pen.

I decorated the inside of the card with more images from Make a Wish.

Now it’s time to go for a hop to see what the rest of the Baker’s Dozen has cooked up for today.

• Charmaine Ikach
• Jackie Pedro
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Karen Motz
• Melissa Sauls
• Sankari Wegman
• Taylor VanBruggen – get all the details and start the hop here each day this week!

A huge welcome to the new Baker’s Dozen members –

•  Danielle Lounds
• Regina Mangum
• Tori Wild

Also joining today is Whimsical Wishes illustrator

• Nancy McKinney 

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I’ll be back tomorrow with something I’m especially excited about!  *GRIN*  Hope to see you tomorrow!

I’m back!!!  If you’d like to see my TESC sample featuring Tweet Hearts please scroll down to my previous post.  It’s Release Day at Taylored Expressions so I hope you’ll hop over to the TE Store and check out the Fresh Out of the Oven Department where you can see all the new goodies in one place!  But before you go Nancy and I are playing along with the Baker’s Dozen today to showcase the two stamp sets being released.

My sample today is an altered comp book featuring Take Note along with Weigh to Go! (released last month.)  I’ve always loved altering comp books and I keep a stash of them at all times (as though disaster might strike if I ran out of comp books or RSVP pens!), so this was easy to pull together.  I pieced together some Early Bird papers (one of my faves) from a previous Key Ingredients kit.  The frame image was stamped in green chalk ink and die cut with the coordinating frame die – so easy – LOVE IT!  I stamped the frame again in red and the words Food and Exercise in chocolate – then I cut out that square panel and popped it up on top of the green frame and outlined it with some red liquid pearls.  I used another one of the coordinating dies to cut out a piece of vanilla cardstock and stamp the dress from Weigh to Go!  I then paper-pieced the dress with some October Afternoon paper.

Curt and I recently got back on the diet and exercise bandwagon.  We’ve needed to do it for awhile now, but we both especially want to lose some weight before our niece’s wedding in October.  I know from past experience that journaling both food and exercise is a valuable tool in weight loss.  I also know that it can be a really hard thing to be consistent with.   So I thought if I had a pretty book that I could leave out, I might be more motivated to write things down.  To be totally honest I’d like to bling this up a little more, but I just flat ran out of time last night as I was also working on the TE Newsletter.

I hope you are subscribed to the Newsletter.  It generally comes out twice a month and will keep you updated on new products and other store happenings!  It’s time to check out what the rest of the girls have cooked up today:

• Alex Maldonado
• Carolina Buchting
• Charmaine Ikach
• Donna Baker
• Jackie Pedro
• Jeanie Witmer
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Karen Motz
• Melissa Sauls
• Nancy McKinney
• Sankari Wegman
• Stacey Schafer – Guest Designer
• Taylor VanBruggen

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Please let me know what type of projects you plan to make with Take Note!

Happy Thursday.  Tomorrow is Release Day at Taylored Expressions and today we have a sneak peek of another new stamp set – Tweet Hearts.  This sweet set, designed by Nancy McKinney, is full of solid images to make super cute cards in no time at all!  Pretty much everything on my card today came from the Summertime Project Pantry (cardstock, patterned paper, ribbon, glitter candy dots, scallop border sticker.)

I stamped the images using various SU classic inks (Celery, Wasabi, Pumpkin, Bermuda) and then die cut the image with a Spellbinders Labels Two die and sponged inside (with the die still in place) with a yellow chalk ink.  Then I covered the entire panel with Versamark and heat embossed it with a kaleidascope ep.  So hard to capture in person, but so so sparkly in person!

And now I can hardly wait to see what the Baker’s Dozen has created!  Let’s go check it out!

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope to see you back tomorrow!

Happy Wednesday! Today is the first day of peeks for the Taylored Expressions August Release. Everything will be available for purchase Friday morning August 6th.   I’m excited to get to play along with the Baker’s Dozen as we show you a new stamp set concepted by yours truly  *BIG GRIN* and executed wonderfully by Nancy McKinney and Taylor – the set is called Take Note.

One of my very favorite little handcrafted gifts to give is an altered notebook.  Whether it’s a composition book, a skinny notepad, a notebook from the dollar spot or any other type of notebook, I’ve always loved to alter them.  I think it all goes back to my love of both school/office supplies and my love for making lists!  So of course I wanted a stamp set to label and title all types of notebooks and journals.  Take Note gives you three frame options and over 20 different title options.

For today’s sample I chose “Note to self” and created a notepad just for me out of some of my favorite October Afternoon Thrift Shop papers.  I stamped directly onto the patterned papers with Summer Afternoon using chalk inks.  And can you see how the label is shiny?  I covered it with Versamark and clear ep and heat embossed it.

Do you also notice how perfectly that frame stamp was cut out?  That’s because we have a whole new line of products to introduce today – Taylored Dies!  Each frame in the Take Note stamp set has a coordinating die!  Plus we have dies to coordinate with Garden Party Blooms!  How cool is that? I cannot wait to get my hands on those flower dies!   Check out all the details on Taylor’s blog today.

As if that news weren’t big enough, we also big new product news.  TE will be carrying the We R Memory Keepers Cinch Binding Machine.  And guess what?  I made this notebook with the Cinch!  Yep – me – the one who doesn’t like gadgets – I made this all by myself!  The Cinch is that easy to use!  I cut 2 pieces of chipboard to 5.5″ x 8″ and covered them on both sides with designer papers.  I rounded the bottom corners with my Corner Chomper.  My grocery store had packs of notebook filler paper on sale 10 for $10 so I picked some up.  I used approximately 70-75 sheets for this notebook – cut them the same size as the covers.  So fun!  I need to stock up on coils so I can make lots and lots of notebooks.  Ideas are running rampant in my head! I’ve avoided getting any type of binding machine for years, but the minute I saw the Cinch demo’ed I knew I wanted it!  Taylor will have a video up later in the week and I hope to get one made for you at some point also.

 While I had everything out on my table, I decided to stamp a coordinating card.  Let’s just pretend this is a gift set even though we all know full well that I’m keeping this notebook for myself!  LOL!

 Here’s a close up of the card.  It used the same elements as the notebook along with a sentiment from Care & Comfort and a different Taylored Die. As you can see, these dies are great in conjunction with Take Note and also with lots of images you already have!

And now let’s see what the Baker’s Dozen has cooked up for us today!

Thanks for stopping by!  Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think about Take Note.

We’re throwing a virtual birthday party for Taylor Van Bruggen today and everyone is welcome to join us!  You can simply hop on over to Taylor’s blog to wish her well or you can create a birthday card for her and post it on your blog and then hop over to her blog and give her the link to check it out.

Taylor, my friend, this card is in the mail to you across the miles and I’m hoping it arrives in your mail box today!

For Taylor’s birthday I was so excited to create a card using her very own first two sets – designed and illustrated start to finish by Taylor – Garden Party Critters and Garden Party Blooms!  This 5.25″ square card features October Afternoon papers from both Thrift Shop and Farm Fresh along with SU Real Red and Green Galore cardstock.  I paper-pieced the sign and the bee and I added stickles to the little stamped image of the bee’s flight trail.

And now it’s time to party hop and see all the wonderful birthday wishes for Taylor…c’mon along…I’ll be the designated driver!  *snort* 

Alex Maldonado , Alice Wertz, Carolina Buchting ,Charmaine Ikach, Donna Baker, Jackie Pedro, Jenn Balcer,   Jodi Collins, Karen Giron, Karen Motz, Lisa Hjulberg, Lori Craig ,Melissa Sauls, Monika Davis, Nancy McKinney, Rachel Sztonyk, Sandra MacLean, Sankari Wegman, Sharon Harnist, Sherrie Siemens

 Taylor I hope you have an incredible birthday full of love and laughter!  I know the year ahead will be full of wonderful things!  I wish I could be there to celebrate with you in person.  Please eat a cupcake for me this weekend!  HUGS!!!   

Happy Tuesday!  Today marks the first day of sneak peeks for the Taylored Expressions June Release of 6 new stamps sets, 2 new Project Pantry kits and more.  Everything will be available Friday morning June 4th at 8 am PST.  I’m excited to play along with the Baker’s Dozen in the peeks this week and the first set we are showing of is Pet’s Place. Taylored Expressions supports various charities through the TE Giving Tree Program.  There is a new stamp set introduced every 3 months to support a new charity.  We are proud to bring you Pet’s Place, the newest set in the Apple Doodle Ink line, to support The Humane Society of the United States.

The Humane Society of the United States is the nation’s largest and most effective animal protection organization. The HSUS seeks a humane and sustainable world for all animals—a world that will also benefit people. They are America’s mainstream force against cruelty, exploitation and neglect, as well as the most trusted voice extolling the human-animal bond. HSUS is also the lead disaster relief agency for animals, and they provide direct care for thousands of animals at  sanctuaries and rescue facilities, wildlife rehabilitation centers, and mobile veterinary clinics. Read more about HSUS here.  $7 from the sale of each Pet’s Place set will be donated to HSUS.  Please remember that sets in the Giving Tree Program are the same high quality deeply etched pink rubber on EZ Mount as all other TE stamp sets, however unlike our other sets you will need to trim these images yourself.  This allows us to cut production costs and donate more to our charities.If you a regular reader of my blog, you know that we love our animals like crazy!  We have two macaws, Beaker the Red-front and R.B. the Greenwing, and of course our little 3 year old pup Tessa (scroll down just one post to read her whole story.)  I’m more than happy to help TE support the HSUS and I’m especially excited because this stamp set is so darned cute and has so many possibilities!  To help illustrate what I mean I created two different projects for today. 

It’s Release Day at Taylored Expressions!  WooHoo!  So much new stuff including one coffee-themed Apple Doodle Ink set (being showcased today by the Baker’s Dozen and I’m playing along), one tea-themed Whimsical Wishes stamp set with another coordinating WW set of small background images, a full teacher-themed set with a coordinating mini set of sentiments, three A la Carte Cuppies, AND three new Taylored Card Kits.  Plus a whole slew of stuff in the Fresh Out of the Oven Department!  OH MY!!!  You REALLY have to go take a look!

 Before you run off to shop, I have a fun little sample to share featuring Let’s Do Coffee.  As I was preparing to go visit Taylor in Iowa last month, I remembered that she and Jon do not drink coffee. (I know…crazy…right?)  I wasn’t sure they even owned a coffee pot (they don’t!) so I pondered what I would do about morning coffee (can’t live without it).  My mom told me about the new Starbuck’s instant coffees that come in little single serving packets (think Crystal Lite tubes), so I decided to try some.  What a life saver! Next I began to wonder what would be the best way to package and take some Coffee Mate Creamer with me without airport security thinking I was smuggling some sort of drugs.  Lo and behold I came across little individual tubes of Coffee Mate as well!  Hallelujah!  I threw those in a ziploc with some blue sweetner packets and I was ready to go.  But of course I was thinking how much nicer it would be to have a really cute little coffee kit, so that’s what I’ve created to show you today.  I think this would make a nice little gift or emergency caffeine kit.

I started with a Small Perfect Package which is approximately 4″ square and some paper from the new Early Bird Card Kit.  This was seriously such a quick project!  It took longer for the Liquid Pearls to dry than it did for me to make it.  LOL!  I covered the top, all 4 sides and inside the lid with patterned paper using Zip Dry.  I’ve been a little on the fence about this adhesive (I have many friends who rave about it) but it sure did work wonderfully on this project and now I see their point!  I was even able to use it to attach the little row of chocolate pom pom trim!

I stamped a couple of images from the set and colored them with Copic Markers.  I also stamped this sentiment which totally reminded me of Pastor Jeff.  Only he could inject coffee into a rockin’ Easter sermon and have it make perfect sense!  I used Spellbinders Label 13 dies and a SU border punch and finished off the project with some red liquid pearls.  (Can anyone tell me why I insist on using stickles or liquid pearls when I’m in a time crunch to get a project photographed?  D’oh!)

This project would also work nicely with one of the new Tea Tins available now in the TE Store, but I don’t have any…YET!  I do know that the coffee and creamer packets will fit easily in those tins.

Oh I cannot wait to see what the rest of the girls have come up with for today!  Shall we do a little hoppin’?

Thanks for stopping by and happy shopping!